Part 1Preliminary

Part 1—Preliminary 1—Short title This Act may be cited as the Native Vegetation Act 1991. 3—Interpretation (1) In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears— Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary has the same meaning as in the Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary Act 2005; biological diversity or biodiversity means the variety of life forms represented by plants, animals and other organisms and micro-organisms, the genes that they contain, and the ecosystems and ecosystem processes of which they form a part; breach of this Act means a contravention of, or a failure to comply with, a provision of this Act and includes a contravention of, or a failure to comply with, a term of a heritage agreement; building includes a structure that is fixed to land; to clear native vegetation includes to cause or permit the clearance of native vegetation; clearance, in relation to native vegetation, means— (a) the killing or destruction of native vegetation; (b) the removal of native vegetation; (c) the severing of branches, limbs, stems or trunks of native vegetation; (d) the burning of native vegetation; (e) any other substantial damage to native vegetation, and includes the draining or flooding of land, or any other act or activity, that causes the killing or destruction of native vegetation, the severing of branches, limbs, stems or trunks of native vegetation or any other substantial damage to native vegetation; the Council means the Native Vegetation Council established by this Act; ERD Court means the Environment, Resources and Development Court; the Fund means the Native Vegetation Fund established by this Act; isolated plant—see subsections (2) and (3); land includes— (a) land submerged by water; and (b) an interest in land; landscape management region means a landscape management region established under the Landscape South Australia Act 2019; local council means a municipal or district council; member means a member of the Council; Minister for the Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary means the Minister to whom the administration of the Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary Act 2005 is committed; Murray-Darling Basin has the same meaning as in the Murray-Darling Basin Act 1993; native vegetation means a plant or plants of a species indigenous to South Australia including a plant or plants growing in or under waters of the sea but does not include— (a) a plant or part of a plant that is dead unless the plant, or part of the plant, is of a class declared by regulation to be included in this definition; or (b) a plant intentionally sown or planted by a person unless the plant was sown or planted— (i) in compliance with a condition imposed by the Council under this Act or by the Native Vegetation Authority under the repealed Act, or with the order of a court under this Act or the repealed Act; or (ii) in pursuance of a proposal approved by the Council under Part 4 Division 2; or (iia) in circumstances involving the use of money paid into the Fund for the purpose of achieving a significant environmental benefit; or (iii) in compliance with a condition imposed by a Minister, statutory authority or prescribed person or body under— (A) the River Murray Act 2003; or (B) the Water Resources Act 1997; or (C) any other Act prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this paragraph; owner of land means— (a) in relation to land alienated from the Crown by grant in fee simple—the holder of the fee simple; (ab) in relation to dedicated land within the meaning of the Crown Lands Act 1929 that has not been granted in fee simple but which is under the care, control and management of a Minister, local council or other body or person—the Minister, council or other body or person; (b) in relation to land held under Crown lease—the lessee; (c) in relation to land held under an agreement to purchase from the Crown—the person entitled to the benefit of the agreement; (d) in relation to any other land—the Minister who is responsible for the care, control and management of the land or, if no Minister is responsible for the land, the Minister for Environment and Conservation; pastoral land means land comprised in a lease granted under the Pastoral Land Management and Conservation Act 1989 over Crown land for the pasturing of stock and other ancillary purposes; principles of clearance of native vegetation means principles set out in Schedule 1 to which the Council must have regard when determining an application for consent to clear native vegetation; the repealed Act means the Native Vegetation Management Act 1985 repealed by this Act; River Murray Protection Area means a River Murray Protection Area under the River Murray Act 2003; waters of the sea includes any water that is subject to the ebb and flow of the tide. (2) A plant will be taken to be an isolated plant if— (a) it is at least one metre in height; and (b) there is no other plant comprising native vegetation that is 200 millimetres or more in height within 50 metres of it. (3) Each plant of a group of two or three plants or of a group of plants that is the subject of a determination by the Council under subsection (4) will be taken to be an isolated plant if it would be an isolated plant under subsection (2) except for its proximity to another plant, or other plants, in the group. (4) The Council may, where in its opinion the circumstances of a particular case justify a determination under this subsection, determine that each plant of a group of four or more plants will be taken to be an isolated plant. (5) A determination under subsection (4) must be agreed to by all the members of the Council present at the meeting at which it is made. (6) The distance between two plants for the purposes of subsection (2) will be taken to be the distance between those parts of the plants that are above ground level and are closest to each other. 3A—Substantially intact vegetation (1) A stratum of native vegetation will be taken for the purposes of this Act to be substantially intact if, in the opinion of the Council— (a) the stratum has not been seriously degraded by human activity during the immediately preceding period of 20 years; or (b) the only serious degradation of the stratum by human activity during that period has been caused by fire. (2) In this section— stratum of native vegetation means a layer of a plant community consisting of plants that comprise native vegetation and that have a similar growth habit. 4—Application of Act (1) Subject to this section, this Act applies to the whole of the State. (2) This Act applies in those parts of the Hundreds of Adelaide, Munno Para, Noarlunga and Yatala— (a) that are within the zone designated as the Metropolitan Open Space System or Hills Face Zone by the Planning and Design Code under the Planning, Development and Infrastructure Act 2016; or (b) that are to the east of the Hills Face Zone; or (c) that are within an area prescribed by regulation for the purposes of this subsection, but does not, subject to subsections (2a) and (2ab), apply in any other part of those Hundreds. (2a) This Act applies to the whole of the area of the City of Onkaparinga. (2ab) This Act applies in that part of the City of Mitcham consisting of the following suburbs: (a) Belair; (b) Bellevue Heights; (c) Blackwood; (d) Coromandel Valley; (e) Craigburn Farm; (f) Eden Hills; (g) Glenalta; (h) Hawthorndene. (2b) This Act applies— (a) in that part of the Hundred of Port Adelaide bounded on the east by the western boundary of Port Wakefield Road and on the south by the northern boundary of the area of the Corporation of the City of Salisbury; and (b) in that part of the area of the Corporation of the City of Salisbury bounded on the east by the western boundary of Port Wakefield Road; (c) in any other part of the Hundred of Port Adelaide prescribed by regulation for the purposes of this subsection, but does not apply in any other part of the Hundred of Port Adelaide. (2c) However, the Governor should not make a regulation under subsection (2) or (2b) unless— (i) the Governor considers that the regulation should be made in order to enhance the preservation or management of an area that includes significant native vegetation, or in order to assist in the provision of a significant environmental benefit in a particular respect; and (ii) the Governor is satisfied that the Minister has taken reasonable steps to consult with— (A) any local council whose area includes any part of the area to which the regulation relates; and (B) the Environment, Resources and Development Committee of the Parliament; and (C) any member of the House of Assembly whose electoral district includes any part of the area to which the regulation relates, about the proposal to make the regulation; or (b) — (i) the Governor considers that the regulation should be made as an interim measure pending consultation under paragraph (a); and (ii) the regulation is expressed to expire not more than two months after the day on which it is made. (3) The Governor may, by regulation, exclude any other part or parts of the State from the operation of this Act. 4A—Interaction with Fire and Emergency Services Act 2005 In the event of an inconsistency between this Act and the Fire and Emergency Services Act 2005, the Fire and Emergency Services Act 2005 will prevail to the extent of the inconsistency. 5—Act to bind Crown This Act binds the Crown.